Caltagirone

A city in colour

In Caltagirone, traditional pottery production is linked to a thousand-year-old history dating back to ancient times.
According to the Italian archaeologist Paolo Orsi the production of maiolica preceded the arrival of the Arabs, but we know for sure that their arrival in the 9th century increased production, thanks to the introduction of a new technique – glazing – which made the pottery waterproof and more resistant.
A few centuries later, during the Spanish rule of Alfonso of Aragon, pottery trade had greatly developed and allowed artisans to sell their ceramics all over the island.
Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1693 interrupted the potters’ activity and destroyed many of the floors made with the maiolica of Caltagirone.
Today some of the fragments are preserved in the Museum of Ceramics.
foto facciata museo  dei vasi fuori il museo
After the earthquake, decorative motifs were replaced in order to make trade flourish again. In the 19th century, however, with the introduction of cement, the production of maiolica stopped.
The potters’ centuries-old activity ended when the last master potters disappeared in the 1930s.
In 1918 Don Luigi Sturzo founded the Istituto d’Arte della Ceramica (Institute of Ceramic Art) and saved a tradition that seemed destined to be lost. In 1965 the Museum of Ceramics was inaugurated, a safe place that preserved and protected a priceless cultural heritage.
foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo

The Baroque town by the sea

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

The interior and its masterpieces

An eagle-shaped city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Wonderful quick decorations

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A colourful floor

Many owners, one palace

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

Feast days

A feast only for Scicli

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Maiolica of the staircase

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

The church of Carmine

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

The senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Discovering the mother church

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The internal colours

The colours of the cathedral

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, two sites

A hall for the feasts

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Prominent façade

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

From International Gothic to present day

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Between white and black

Norman apses

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The theatre of taste

A small room with a golden entrance

The Burgos crucifix

A prominent church

Searching for colour

The two churches

Feasting in Palazzolo

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A triumph of colour

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A symbol for the town

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Staircase of Angels

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A museum to save a tradition

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

A new site for a new city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A long reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Some masterpieces

One city, three sites

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Some prestigious works

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A miniature city

A half-Baroque church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

New roads for Catania